Karen Tracey Blackett (born 7 August 1971) is a British Barbadian businesswoman who works in the advertising industry and is the CEO of Group M. She became the Chancellor of the

University of Portsmouth The University of Portsmouth (UoP) is a public university in Portsmouth, England. Comprising five Faculty (division), faculties, the university offers a wide range of academic disciplines. in 2022, with around 28,280 students enrolled in Unde ...

in October 2017.

Early life

Blackett grew up in

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, England, and the county town of Berkshire. It is the United Kingdom's largest town, with a combined population of 355,596. Most of Reading built-up area, its built-up area lies within the Borough ...

, with her mother, who was a nurse, her bus conductor father and her sister. She is originally from the Caribbean and her mother moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to work in the

Royal Berkshire Hospital The Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH) is an NHS hospital in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It provides acute hospital services to the residents of the western and central portions of Berkshire, and is managed by the Royal ...

as a nurse in the 1960s. Blackett grew up around a lot of people from Barbados and other West Indian islands.

Education

Blackett went to the

and graduated in 1992 with a degree in geography.

Work

After university, Blackett applied for a job advertised as a media auditor with CIA MediaNetwork. "I got through the first interview and then they asked me to give a presentation on the pros and cons of Sky TV. I didn't get that job but they suggested I talk to someone in media planning. I think it's because I was so gobby." In October 1995, she continued her career by joining Zenith Media as a senior communications planner and buyer working on the prestigious BT account. In 1995, she was promoted to the board of directors of the newly merged MediaCom and The Media Business Group Board. She was later head-hunted by The Media Business Group. In January 2003, Blackett moved from her business director role to become the marketing director of MediaCom, then, in 2008, became MediaCom's chief operation director for

Europe, the Middle East and Africa Europe, the Middle East and Africa, commonly known by its acronym EMEA among the North American business spheres, is a geographical region used by institutions, governments and global spheres of marketing, media and business when referring to t ...

. She was promoted to CEO of the UK office in January 2011. Working with Tim Campbell MBE and The National Apprentice Service, in 2012, Blackett launched an apprenticeship scheme at Mediacom for women aged 18 to 24. In 2015, she was promoted to chair of MediaCom UK, and, in 2016, named as the company's president. Blackett has also worked with a life coach for more than ten years and this, as she claimed in an interview, has helped her both professionally and personally.

Awards and recognition

In 2003 and 2005, she was voted by ''

Management Today Haymarket Media Group is a private media company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It has publications in the consumer, business and customer sectors, both print and online. It operates exhibitions allied to its own publications, and pr ...

'' as one of the 35 Most Powerful Women Under 35 in the UK. Blackett has featured on the UK's 100 most influential black women five times, and was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

2014 Birthday Honours The 2014 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens ...

for services to the media communications industry. Blackett was the first businesswoman to top the

Powerlist The Powerlist is a list of the 100 most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage in the United Kingdom. The list is updated annually and has been published in book format by Powerful Media since 2007. The Powerlist is not lim ...

in 2015. She was on the 2015

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History The first BBC programme for women was the programme cal ...

'' Power List of The Top Ten Influencers.

Personal life

Blackett is a single mother to Isaac, born 2010, and lives in

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...

Early life

Education

Work

Awards and recognition

Personal life

References

Further reading